Charge to class of 2025: ‘Use your voice’
Commencement 2025 slideshow
UI Health Chief Nursing Officer Tiesa Hughes-Dillard gave the keynote speech to more than 300 graduates at the May 8 commencement ceremony.
Tiesa Hughes-Dillard, DNP ’19, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, had a simple message for the UIC College of Nursing 2025 graduating class: “Use your voice.”
Hughes-Dillard is the chief nursing officer of the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, the first African American executive to serve in that role. Before that, she led UI Health’s Patient Care Services Division, rising through the ranks from a bedside nurse.
She told graduates it was that experience – years at the bedside – that may have saved her husband’s life when he was recently in the hospital after a kidney and pancreas transplant. A subtle change in his mental status lasted only a split second, but her “nursing instincts kicked in,” and she persisted in alerting his care team.
“For those of us who have spent years at the bedside, we understand the kind of instinct that’s deeply honed,” she said to graduates and their families during the May 8 ceremony at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago. “It’s an incredible intuition that tells us when something is wrong. It is, without question, one of greatest tools in our nursing practice.”
Shortly after, her husband’s blood pressure plummeted, and his surgical drain started filling with blood. He was rushed to surgery where the team discovered a bleed from the head of his pancreas.
“If we had waited, the outcome would have been tragic,” she said, adding: “Here’s my message to you: Advocate relentlessly. Trust your assessment skills. You are the voice of your patients, and sometimes you may be the only one speaking up. Use your voice, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when others don’t see what you see.”
Hughes-Dillard delivered the keynote in a ceremony that was presided over by UIC Nursing Dean Eileen Collins, PhD, RN, FAAN, ATSF, and also featured remarks from University of Illinois Trustee Ramon Cepeda, University of Illinois System President Timothy Killeen and UIC Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda.
UIC Nursing graduated 359 students in May, representing all degree levels: Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Philosophy.
The joyous ceremony included the usual pomp and circumstance: a brass band; hoods, cords, sashes and stoles representing honors and affiliations; mortarboards decorated and personalized; cameras and cell phones flashing at every turn.
Shamira Vega, BSN ’25, who opened the ceremony by singing the national anthem, also delivered the student remarks. She noted that she hadn’t told her family she was speaking.
“Surprise!” she shouted with a laugh.
A first-generation student, Vega spearheaded a chapter of the Hispanic Student Nursing Association on the Urbana campus to, “build a space where culture is celebrated and future nurses are equipped to care for diverse communities with empathy and understanding,” she said.
“Our patients are more diverse than ever, and to care for them well, we must meet them with open hearts and open minds,” she said. “Even when we don’t share the same background, we can honor their stories, their faith and their values. True care begins when we’re willing to be vulnerable, ask questions and listen closely to them.”
Awards were also given out. Catherine Leipold, MS, RN, clinical instructor at UIC Nursing’s Urbana campus, received the Silver Circle Award for Teaching Excellence.
Students Thitinan Duangjina, PhD ’25, and Heather Nimmagadda, PhD ’25, received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research. Rebecca Quaid, DNP ’25, received the Cardew-Mullane Award for Clinical Excellence and Leadership. Janna Janthapaiboonkajon, BSN ’25, received the Graduating Student Recognition Award.
Bridget Cler, DNP ’25, Marissa Bernardino, DNP ’25, and Meli Vargas, DNP ’25, earned the Superior Academic Achievement Award in their respective departments: Biobehavioral Nursing Science, Population Health Nursing Science and Human Development Nursing Science.